Rebecca Nalepa - suicide or murder? #1

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Wednesday morning, Shacknai's brother Adam Shacknai, a Memphian, told police he discovered Nalepa's naked body hanging from a balcony with her hands bound behind her back with electrical cord.

"Right now, I'm not going into details," said Capt. Tim Curran with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. "I'm not going to compromise the integrity of the investigation."


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another snip
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Adam Shacknai lives in an apartment in Midtown Memphis. His leasing agent neighbor, Robert Sanders, said he last saw him a few days ago.

"He said that he was going to have to go back out on the tugboat company he works for," said Sanders.

Instead, Adam Shacknai ended up in San Diego in a guest house in his brother's mansion.

http://www.wmctv.com/story/15091608/memphian-discovers-body-in-brothers-san-diego-mansion
 
Jonah's brother Adam told investigators he cut Nalepa down from the rope suspending her over a courtyard. She was naked, and both her ankles and wrists were bound.

Adam Shacknai lives in a guest house on the property.

----another snip-----

Mary Zahau-Loehner spoke to ABC News about her sister Rebecca's state of mind before the gruesome discovery, saying that when the sisters spoke on Tuesday night, things with Rebecca did not seem out of the ordinary.

"She was normal, fine, just getting ready to go to bed," Zahau-Loehner said.

On Monday, Jonah Shacknai's six year old son suffered serious injuries due to a fall.

The boy "had fallen from stairs and was not breathing and did not have a pulse,

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/181...lepa-adam-shacknai-murder-suicide-medicis.htm
 
I'm sure Jonah Shacknai could have been in the hospital at the surrounding time, but I wonder why no one has come out and just said that?

I haven't even seen Shacknai make a statement that her death is horrible or sad or anything.... anyone else know? I find that odd since he lived with her for two years.

I thought the party on Tues was strange also, but why no details on that?
 
Calif. Report: Valley CEO's Son Has Died

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/cali.-reports-valley-ceos-son-has-died-07162011

Sad

As far as Rebecca, it still says "More information is expected to be released on Monday."

A local paper has a little more and slightly different story

http://coronado.patch.com/articles/trainer-recalls-spreckels-victims-noticeable-limp

He (fitness trainer at their gym) said he rarely had long conversations with Zahau, but did so last Saturday, when the woman excitedly discussed a party she was planning for Tuesday, which turned out to be the day before she died.

“She was really stoked about it,” he said.

But two days after Zahau's talk with Holman, Shacknai's 6-year-old son fell down a staircase in the mansion and suffered severe injuries. A kennel owner who visited with Zahau Tuesday said she was deeply shaken by the incident.

Investigators have said they do not believe the party took place.
Click to expand...
 
This seems like a more in depth article:

Bizarre death at Arizona CEO's mansion grips Coronado Island

by Ken Alltucker and Robert Anglen - Jul. 16, 2011 12:00 AM

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/a...ead-woman-coronado-mystery.html#ixzz1SJunuEID

Memphian discovers body in brother's San Diego mansion
http://www.wmctv.com/story/15091608/memphian-discovers-body-in-brothers-san-diego-mansion

Adam Shacknai lives in an apartment in Midtown Memphis. His leasing agent neighbor, Robert Sanders, said he last saw him a few days ago.

"He said that he was going to have to go back out on the tugboat company he works for," said Sanders.

Instead, Adam Shacknai ended up in San Diego in a guest house in his brother's mansion.

Adam Shacknai said from San Diego that the police were questioning him but he did not have anything to do with Nalepa's death.

Investigators said Adam Shacknai and Nalepa were the only people in the mansion when the body was found. His brother and ex-wife were at the hospital.
Click to expand...
 
time said:
I'm sure Jonah Shacknai could have been in the hospital at the surrounding time, but I wonder why no one has come out and just said that?

I haven't even seen Shacknai make a statement that her death is horrible or sad or anything.... anyone else know? I find that odd since he lived with her for two years.

I thought the party on Tues was strange also, but why no details on that?
Click to expand...

In the link just above there was this:
Dina and Jonah Shacknai were divorced in 2008. Friends say they were both at Max's bedside at the time of Zahau's mysterious death.

Also in looking at that link/video it shows a round table near the body. I think that was the table she stood on. A long orange electrical cord must have been tied to a balcony above, then hung down near that table. That table looks like the one LE removed with a broken leg. Personally I think she might have stagged a suicide. It was pretty clear that the boy was not going to live when they found him with no pulse. Things would never be the same, many married couple split after a child death and she was only a girlfriend. A girlfriend who was watching a boy that died.
 
From watching the Videos it appears she was quite "down and depressed" according to those who talked with her. They thought it was because of the fall the little boy took and the hospital .
However, it does make one wonder, why the "party" went on, the next evening on Tuesday after this tragic fall the child took.
 
If LE gets called to a house and a person is found dead, hanged from a balcony with hands and feet bound, why in the world would it take two days for them to get search warrants and seal the house as a crime scene? Don't crime investigators realize that you can't wait two days to collect evidence? What is wrong with law enforcements offices that they don't even seem to consider anything a crime until public outcry forces them to do something?
(I know, not all LE offices do this, but it seems like there are some that are extremely behind the times.) If you aren't sure of the circumstances, seal it off until your are.
I guess $$ talks. jmo
 
colette said:
In the link just above there was this:
Dina and Jonah Shacknai were divorced in 2008. Friends say they were both at Max's bedside at the time of Zahau's mysterious death.

Also in looking at that link/video it shows a round table near the body. I think that was the table she stood on. A long orange electrical cord must have been tied to a balcony above, then hung down near that table. That table looks like the one LE removed with a broken leg. Personally I think she might have stagged a suicide. It was pretty clear that the boy was not going to live when they found him with no pulse. Things would never be the same, many married couple split after a child death and she was only a girlfriend. A girlfriend who was watching a boy that died.
Click to expand...

Thanks, good analysis, I'll take a look at t he pictures.

I don't exactly agree on her being 'just a girlfriend" when reports are that they had lived together for two years. Maybe they weren't married, but I don't think she was 'just' a girlfriend. She would have known the boy already for 1/3 -1/2 his life.

I guess you could tie your hands behind your back, it's possible but very unlikely? And, how likely is that a woman would commit suicide naked - her friends and family said they didn't think she would ever want to be seen like that.

What I'm most curious about is if the party on Tues took place and, if so, who was there and what time did everyone leave?
 
Winward1 said:
“I thought he was as arrogant as hell...”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/16/spreckels-mansion-owner-described-go-getter/
Click to expand...

Interesting article. Not sure why, but this caught my eye:

The couple married the following year in Beverly Hills, but the union didn’t last. She told a psychologist that while on their honeymoon, Shacknai asked her if she thought the marriage was a mistake, according to court records filed in Maricopa County, Ariz.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that just be a bummer to hear on your honeymoon! So much for romance. :(

and...

“Rebecca was a very experienced and skilled technician who was well-respected by our doctors, her co-workers and our patients,” Trier said.

She quit in December to devote more time to Shacknai and his three children, Trier said. Her divorce was finalized in February, and she changed back to her maiden name in May, court records show.
Click to expand...
 
ohiogirl said:
If LE gets called to a house and a person is found dead, hanged from a balcony with hands and feet bound, why in the world would it take two days for them to get search warrants and seal the house as a crime scene? Don't crime investigators realize that you can't wait two days to collect evidence? What is wrong with law enforcements offices that they don't even seem to consider anything a crime until public outcry forces them to do something?
(I know, not all LE offices do this, but it seems like there are some that are extremely behind the times.) If you aren't sure of the circumstances, seal it off until your are.
I guess $$ talks. jmo
Click to expand...

I kind of wondered the same thing about searching the house. Also, you don't need a search warrant if the owner give you permission do you? OR?

The police in Coronado are small also and they had to call in the Sheriff's office. Seems to me they would have called in the FBI? I heard that for the boys death, just the Coronado police were handling it.
 
I'm not too sure that one can convincingly tie his/her own hands behind their back. Feet, maybe, but unless you are Houdini or the Greatest Boy Scout Knot Tyer, I just don't see it being passing for authentic. It would be loose. Think about it -- how many of us can scratch our own backs, let alone do things with our arms behind us? If I tried to tie my hands in front of me, I still don't think it would be very tight. I guess I think that's a dead giveaway. For example, in the Jayna Murray/Lululemon murder, Brittany Norwood attempted to make it look real and they knew straight away that it was fishy because of the way her hands WEREN'T tied. And why stage your murder that way? Pack your bags and leave town, cut yourself and throw some blood around. I don't know... It's nefarious.

Also, why wouldn't she be with her significant other at the hospital? I understand you can't be there 24/7, but is there any mention anywhere of her having visited the boy or being there to support her boyfriend?

It sounds like this accident with the son happened and someone blamed Rebecca. Even if she blamed herself and decided to go out on her own out of guilt (or because she thought people assumed her guilt) the rest is just uncalled for. Who restrains his/herself? So she couldn't stop herself? If you really want to die, you won't anyway.

I hate to see so much tragedy happen and have someone's death sold short.
 
Re: Party Tuesday evening

[trainer at Hollywood Fitness] said he rarely had long conversations with Zahau, but did so last Saturday, when the woman excitedly discussed a party she was planning for Tuesday, which turned out to be the day before she died.

“She was really stoked about it,” he said.

7/16 http://coronado.patch.com/articles/trainer-recalls-spreckels-victims-noticeable-limp
Click to expand...


[San Diego Sheriffs Capt. Tim Curran] said there was no party at the residence Tuesday night, a rumor that quickly spread through the neighborhood Wednesday as investigators roamed the cordoned-off Spreckels property.

They did, however, identify Adam Shacknai as the last person known to have seen Nalepa alive.

7/14 http://coronado.patch.com/articles/faced-with-bizarre-case-detectives-try-to-sort-out-spreckels-death
Click to expand...
 
What I find weird, if it was reported accurately and it seems some things here have not been, is she was living with a multi-millionaire, had a job until recently, and, if I'm not wrong, during that time was caught shoplifting some major league loot.
 
girlinblue said:
Also, why wouldn't she be with her significant other at the hospital? I understand you can't be there 24/7, but is there any mention anywhere of her having visited the boy or being there to support her boyfriend?
Click to expand...

This is only my opinion - but I would assume the boy's mother would have had Rebecca tarred and feathered had she come to the hospital. From what I read, the relationship between Rebecca and Jonah started before the end of his second marriage (to the boy's mother). The accident (which has not been disclosed) was under Rebecca's watch (regardless if it was her fault of not watching him properly or just a freak thing). NO WAY in heck I would let my ex's "girlfriend" come into the hospital room with my nearly dead child in that scenario.

The description of Rebecca as "a second mother" to his 3 kids is from her friends/family. I highly doubt his ex-wifes would call the 32 year old party girl a "mother figure" to their children even if he had 50/50 custody.

Again, just my opinion.
 
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